Tag Archives: joe review

Joe Con 2012 Exclusive Voltar Review.

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Fear the cyclops!

Voltar came in the 2012 convention set, “Operation Bear Trap” I purchased the re issue of this set while at the 2013 con, and had to check out this popular figure a bit closer. I never had this character as a child, and had no major attachment to him.  In my mind that helps this review to stand more on the figure’s merits and not nostalgia alone.

voltar1Voltar  consists of a new head and helmet, and lower legs from POC Beachhead placed on Rise of Cobra Accelerator suit body.  An Iron Grenadier belt and sword are fitting and help him blend in with his fellow Grenadiers.

As you can see from this angle, the helmet doesn’t fit perfectly snug on the head. Continue reading →

G.I.Joe Future NOIR review

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noirrosterG.I.Joe Future Noir is one of those obscure alternate takes that almost every property has, that many wouldn’t even know existed.  Idw published the small manga sized black and white trade paper back in 2011.

it featured a young team of Joes  who are sent on a mission by General Hawk. Duke commands a squad consisting of of Scarlet, Roadblock, Sci-fi (with an interesting twist) and a rookie by the name of Helix.  Don’t worry, they met Snake-Eyes along the way.

The first thing you may notice is some of the unusual members on the roster. Sci-fi is no longer the laser trooper from the ARAH days, but instead is a cyborg who serves as pilot, and general computer/support for the team. His face bears a resemblance to Gambit, and his later body part switcheroo reminds me of 90’s era bad comic cyborgs. UPDATE: I initially didn’t see any ties to the classic Sci-Fi here, but Joe Nation’s Casey pointed out that Star Brigade Sci-Fi (v4) had bat like hand attachments and  had been re-assigned to be a pilot.

Continue reading →

G.I.Joe Battleground iOS game review

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5by5nG.I.Joe Battleground has been out for sometime now and most of the discussion has settled. Love it or Hate it, it’s there and it’s free.

My review was mostly completed shortly after it’s release but i held off hoping that more updates (that have happened) would change my views, they simply did not.

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Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast, the folks who make Magic the Gathering, I can’t help but point that out.  Similar to how i did in my review of the other Mobage/hasbro Game: Transformers Legends,  I long for that level of a complexity and strategy. Digital games can even go beyond that because those cards could have three or more sides of images, if they wanted to! Continue reading →

2013 G.I.Joe con exclusive Freestyle review

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Yo Joe! Freestyle is an excellent codename.  I have to start by saying that right off the bat, so many figures have been hindered by terrible names over the years, and in recent years we have seen very few new characters introduced, so i’m very pleased we get a new character, that’s female, an immigrant,minority, a new pilot, and she even has a name so cool and Joe esque it feels like a Joe should have already taken it.

freestylefilecardToday at the history of G.I.Joe panel Larry Hama said, “without moral and ethical cores you don’t have characters and without characters you don’t have a story.” (Larry Hama) I thought the first interesting thing I could do would be to stack this new Joe up against that qoute.  Freestyle comes from a diverse lower income background that by itself points to a resolute spirit that allowed to attain her spot with the Joes. There seems to be potential hinted at here, that she is serious and don’t unwind often and is more gaurded individual. Her ethical code might be one of hardwork, and no nonsense. Hama’s qoute plays out best when looking at a story arc, not a file card, and I think i’d like to see Freestyle get incorporated into future stories to further flesh her out. Her filecad isn’t spectacular like SE, or Hit n Run, but there is a spark of potential there.

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On to the review. She makes use of the ROC covergirl/ 25th v 2 lady Jaye body parts except for 25th wild bills lower legs (which is unfortante in my opinion) and a Quarrel/Glenda Scarlet head. Her helmets original came with 30th ace(as pictured above) or 25th lift ticket. I’ve been told her vest is new, but it looks very similar to the canceled comic pack arctic scarlet to me. Continue reading →

2013 G.I.Joe con CHUCKLES and freebie ATV review

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Chuckles and the con attendee exclusive free vehicle are next up for my continuing series of reviews for Joe con 2013 review items (all will be on the page joecon2013 for easy and grouped viewing.)

First up is Chuckles, who is no longer sports a silly bright shirt, and goofy pop eye arms (as he did in the 25th era release.)

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Chuckles now comes with a 25 th viper torso, renegade duke arms, upper poc wave 3 legs and lower legs used in various places like DG shipwreck but I am unsure of their first usage. Some of these parts have become nearly uniform with their re-use, and that’s okay because it’s only near uniform, things are still changed up and colored differently, and we still get unique looking characters, and the fact it helps Hasbro or in this case the club keep costs down only helps us get more of the new and unusual tooling.

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I apologize for the washed out look of this pic, please keep in mind I took it in a hotel room the night I received the figure.

His shirt his still flowered helping him be easily identified as chuckles but with a much more believable look. The best is a nice tactical touch, and it’s good to have the optional hoslter but they two do not work well together.  Without the vest his lack of belt is obvious, but it’s not that troublesome.  some are not a fans of this head, but i feel it’s a good head, and it’s not necessary to match the old version exactly and I appreciate the consistency. I actually think this will replace the current normal chuckles on my shelf.

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I’d score this figure a 9/10

as a transition photo it’s worth noting that chuckles comes with a helmet which lead me to connect him with… Continue reading →

G.I.Joe con Carded Lady Jaye pic and thoughts

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My carded Lady Jaye is SIGNED by HAMA and Bozigian, and soon by Lady J herself! okay, now after that fan boy moment, I know most Joe fans have already seen the figures  but I wanted to put a shot of each (these aren’t getting taken out of the package) and give a small breakdown of the figures. (please keep in mind the pics are from prior to having LJ signed.)

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When the voice actor Mary McDonald Lewis was announced for  con many correctly guessed we would get a figure of LJ for her to sign, I’m glad they were right. Unfortunately as of this writing they have sold out and I was limited one, and no bagged versions were available !

Even without taking her out of the card I can tell you that it’s not exactly the concept case figure from last year. The torso here is from the 25th version which differs from the concept case. The legs are baggy in look, and originate from the POC shock trooper, arms appear to be from the 25th 2nd two pack Lady Jaye.

It’s worth noting her that the head is new, doesn’t have a removable hat but still looks great.  Her gold eagle is unpainted, and the card art differs in look by removing the knee pads, showing the emblem painted, and showing tighter pants.  Her gray is a very green gray which would almost make her work as a standard LJ but the NF logo on the hat makes it clear she is representing her sub unit here.

I’d rate it 7 out of 10 and if it was at retail I’d buy two.

Was hoping to get up more but I’m out of time, Iceberg at least and hopefully chuckles later tonight! Remember to click on our Forums to discuss the news as it rolls in.

-Sears

 

 

 

2013 Con Exlusive NF Steeler and Flak Cannon Review

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I’m starting off my con reviews with the most pleasant surprise from con. Remember to check back often, and specifically the joecon2013 tag. Steeler was one of the con attendee exclusives this year, meaning even if you got a home front heroes package (ordering the con set by mail) you couldn’t buy this guy unless you came to the show (or hit up ebay!)

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Cyclops wishes he was this Bad A

Steeler comes with an impressive night force flak cannon. Action Force Expert and WOJM UK correspondent Dave Tree said it was similar to a Z-force edition of the flak cannon.

Steeler was one of the original thirteen (013) ARAH G.I.Joes but  his inclusion was surprising as he wasn’t previously a member of night force.

NFsteeler1He is a fairly plain looking figure, yet that only makes him more aesthetically pleasing. The drab green, black and earth town brown makes him fit in with night force, but the lack of teal helps him fit in with the regular Joes as well. While simply, he isn’t overly simply, his buttons are painted as is holster which makes him pop more.

The parts including Retaliation Firefly’s torso, POC shock trooper arms and POC wave 3 Snake-Eyes Legs with 25th Steeler head. The Holster is a tight fit for him and I’ll probably place that and the cool but somewhat dated helmet aside.

NFsteelerfilecardThere is not really a lot of additional information or pictures necessary, he is what is, and thankfully that is a good update of one of the original and often neglected ARAH Joes.

NFflakcannon1The flak cannon he comes with is surprisingly nice. It’s mostly black with shades of green, both G.I.Joe and the Night Force team logos, a single star, as well as  4 Cobra’s that have be slashed out to display his kills/vehicles destroyed.

NFflakcannon2My only real complaint about the cannon is the green pant here, that appears to be a a scope or camera, is not painted well at the seem of the plastic and it is very noticeable.

Scoring these two together I’d give them an 9 out of 10.

I also can’t help but think his inclusion as given away who the mystery 13 figure is, if NF falcon is in FFS 2, and NF crazy legs is the one not left with a figure, i think he is a good candidate.

Remember to check back often, I hope to have at least one other review up tonight.

-Sears

a review of: RAHC Guide by noted Author James Kavanaugh Jr.

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The RAHC Guide is written by noted Author James Kavanaugh Jr. which you may know from the excellent What’s On Joe Mind podcast.

It’s obvious this work is a labor of love. it covers an era of  figures often looked down upon in a thorough manner. This is a guide for every figure and vehicle released from 1997 to 2007 and details their parts, what the came with, variants, and some trivia information. It isn’t a price guide, but it doesn’t need to be. Despite books like this including price guides, toy prices fluctuate enough that they can only be close to accurate briefly, and with this particular set of toys, sadly most of them are not as desired as the classic 12″ or ARAH figures, or even the more recent 25th to current style figures.

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Jump into the article for the full review. Continue reading →

So I saw Retaliation tonight…

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The theatre was almost empty, that does not bode well for the opening weekend. I saw it in max 3D, the small audience laughed a few times, my wife enjoyed it, compared it to expendables which she loves. Me? It was okay.  The Mt. Scene was amazing, but the exposition was so bad just before that it could have came from a motion comic written by 10 year old.

A few quick not spoiler thoughts for now, and i’ll post a full review later.

Stormshadow was the star of the film, and talked only a little more than snake-eyes! His character had the most obvious Arc, and his fight scenes were excellent.

There were several Easter eggs in the film i won’t spoil here, but they made me leap with excitement as i found them! (He did call him brother btw, a lot of people didn’t catch that!)

The action was ratcheted up. The fight choreography was good in places, a little too fast to follow in others, but the fights felt more quick here, and occasionally more brutal, but could have showed more strain from those involved at other times.

For being on the screen so briefly, i really thought Mouse was a good addition.

I was very disappointed in the need to add sex appeal, one of the best things about the last film was that it was more kid friendly than the TFs, while this one still is, it will be longer before my son can see this than I had hoped.

RZA is awful! Just awful.

as I said, full review coming soon, but prior to Joe Con I have several important non site obligations that will keep things slow. During Con, and then again shortly after, explosion of good things!

 

G.I.Joe Rise of Cobra Review (Yes the first one!)

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5by5nAs I gear up to see G.I.Joe Retaliation tomorrow (in IMAX 3D) i thought it appropriate to dig up a review I did of Rise of Cobra shortly after it came out. I have to say up front, that review was more of a long rant, and I’ve recently re watched the film so I tempered it quickly to arrive at this rough around the edges article.I wanted it out quickly in case someone had the chance to read it before the movie tonight. Warning, it’s long, and it could probably fit into that nerd rage category in a couple of points.

The first thing i want to do is list some positives, then I’ll look at the movie as just a film, then as a Joe film.

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1. A Few of the Positives:Christoper Ecceltson played a convincing Scottish Destro. Nods to it’s roots like “Yo Joe” and “Kung Fu Grip” are humorous and nice. It doesn’t take itself to seriously. It brought the name G.I.Joe to theaters. It felt more kid friendly and family appropriate than the Transformers movies, which i think is a big plus. My kid could see this well before i would let him see Bay’s sex obsessed explosion films. Continue reading →